we bring each kid with a list of siblings, mom, dad, and grandparents, and we let them loose at the dollar store.

i love that tradition-- the kids get so excited to wrap everything and present their own handpicked gift.

this year, we're vamping things up by having them each choose one sibling, and helping them to MAKE a gift.
(they have the week off before Christmas, so they'll have time to finish things up.)
i'm so excited to see what they make.

i love Christmas.

especially with a house full of little elves.

ps.
we sang "jingle bells" with trumpet accompaniment as our closing song.
and then jolly old st. Nicholas.
and jingle bells again.

if you have never had a child learn to play the trumpet in your home, you are truly missing out.

it is very funny. and AWFUL (at first).
VERY bad and VERY loud. it really is humerous to listen to.
but, it's only Christmas and it's getting so much better.
it's amazing what they can learn... seriously, my kid can play a trumpet. sort of.

i LOVE Christmas songs with trumpet.
and, i kinda love the CONSTANT blowing and humming of tight-lipped raspberry noises during scripture time and dinner and breakfast and chore time...

love this.
know this.
hope to remember it more.
today.
"lift up our eyes and truly see the things that matter most.
strength comes not from frantic activity... but from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.
diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the world."

November 26, 2011

i saw this picture this morning in the portland temple.
it made my eyes tear up.
i LOVE strong joseph and wondering mary.
i feel their faith and their hope.
i love this season of remembering.
merry christmas!

November 24, 2011

this year, when i'm counting my blessing, i'm thanking the Lord made YOU.
Can i tell you something?
my greatest blessing-- ever-- is the great man i'm married to.
he's the best thing that ever happened to me.
every day i know God loves me because He led me to Todd.
today, he's finishing up our laundry, he woke up early with my baby so i could sleep, and he made two homemade pies (pecan and squash).
i LOVE this man.
i'm so blessed.

November 23, 2011

yesterday i was trying to open a container of cranberry juice and it was stuck.
lily said, "i'm going to pray about you mom."
leah bowed her head and prayed.
when i opened the juice a few seconds later, leah exclaimed, "See mom, it worked! Jesus healed you."
i am thankful for prayer and faithful toddlers.

EVERY time i am down i know that joy is just a phone call away.
i am so grateful for my sweet friends and family that help to raise my spirits and inspire my soul from across the country.
what would i do without long distance?
thank you.
again.
and again.
for phone ministries.

and, i love produce.
a friend just told me about a great farmers market not to far from here.
we got boxes of squash and potatoes and apples...
oh, produce brings joy to my soul.
even as i'm scraping roasted squash off the skins to freeze for baby food.
i still love it.

November 21, 2011

today, i'm thankful for my family.
this weekend we sang at a memory loss assisted card facility, where my friend's mother is a resident.
it touched my heart.
i also talked with a few of my friends who have had their parents pass away unexpectedly.

i realized just how grateful i am for my family.
i'm thankful to have a mother and father who are both alive.
i'm thankful for my grandfather.
i'm thankful to have a mother and father in law, and a great-grandmother in law.

i'm thankful for my sisters and brothers, for my sisters and brothers in law.
i'm thankful for my cute nephews and nieces... and for my sweet niece who we're still expecting.
i'm thankful for sweet aunts and funny uncles that are all across the world.
i'm thankful for all my cousins-- who i grew up with and who i married into.
i love you all.
i'm thankful for your touch in my life.

i'm going to do better at appreciating my family more.
families are eternal... but life is short.
i hope that today, my family knows how much i love them.
i really do love you.

November 19, 2011

i believe in a modern day prophet.
(like Noah)
our prophets have been telling us for YEARS to BE PREPARED.
--3 day "72 hour" kit that is portable.
--1 year food storage.
our church also is a major partner with Boy Scouts of America.
All of our Young Men are Boy Scouts.
I don't think this is just because we like camping.
I believe it is an eternal principle-- BE PREPARED. HAVE SKILLS. GET WHAT YOU NEED.

I am constantly aware that we live in a day and age where we can BUY ANYTHING for CHEAP.
What do we buy? What do we have?
If, someday, things change and supplies are in demand... what will we wish we had bought today?
I'm thinking about the EVERY DAY... especially as Christmas approaches.
Will my kids need an ipod touch or a warm sleeping bag, tents, leather shoes, water filtration kit, a tool box, a fishing pole, a flash light, a pocket knife, a down comforter, etc., etc., etc.?

although, the professor thinks he says he's awesome too much...
drew often sings a song "d-r-e-w-is- a-w-s-o-m"
i laughed that he wasn't even spelling awesome correctly!...
now, he has to sweep the floor every time he sings his little prideful song.
(to keep him humble.)

drew is still awsom!

and, my floor is shining!

he just got a locker (they were under construction) and he wanted to decorate it.

he's ready and in the car 30 minutes before school starts because he's nervous he won't be able to open his locker on time..

drew informed me yesterday, that it was a good thing the janitor was there with the key yesterday or he would have been late and i would have owed him five bucks!
right...

so, i picked up a couple things at the dollar store.

to surprise him.

yup. we have a dollar store here in our town.

the most organized dollar tree you have EVER seen.

it's my new BFF.

and,
i wanted to show you drew's talk from last Sunday.

he had 3 principles.

3 scriptures.

3 applications.

he shared his testimony at the end.

two funny stories...
1. Drew's talk was on reverence. todd was speaking last sunday and so i was by myself with the 7 kids. (again, somehow it's easier without my husband-- no idea why?) anyway, drew was teasing with anna. tickleling her or trying to take something away from her that she shouldn't have been looking at. Then i saw him go, "Oh. I forgot." And he folded his arms, bowed his head and sat quietly the rest of the sacrament time. In his talk he said, "I always try to fold my arms and bow my head and close my eyes during the sacrament to help me be reverent. I like to bow my head so that if I forget and open my eyes, all I'm looking at is my shirt." :)
2. i was cranky one night when he came home from scouts. i was trying to remind him to do his dish job and he started complaining. mid-sentence he stopped and said, "Oh. Um. Never mind. I'll do my job mom." As he turned and headed to the kitchen I heard him say to himself, "A Scout is Cheerful."

Really, he's so funny. I love that kid.

The other day he made a comment about me not posting enough pictures of him.

and, he's right.

enjoy!!
(this is SO drew... and SO jakob.... i'm SO glad they have each other.)

About Me

I am a mother, a Christian, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a New Yorker, and an optimist.
I love people, happy endings, cowboys, squishy babies, crayon pictures, quilts, blue skies, fingerprints on my windows, clean laundry, sun rays through the clouds, and one certain college professor.
I have 8 children, 1 horse, 5 cows, 15 chickens, bunny that thinks she's a chicken, and 1 silly dog. (We raise free-range children, and chickens.)
This blog, like my life, is a continual rough draft. I'm not afraid to let you see me before I'm finished.
Today, I'm enjoying my moments and LIVING my happily ever after.

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

"Oh, the ordinary day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me be grateful while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall fall upon my knees, or bury my face in the pillow, or lie among the sick, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Mary Jean Iron

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.